Once the 4th largest city in Washington with over 40,000 residents, Lake City was annexed into Seattle in 1954 when the northern boundary of the city expanded from 85th to 145th. Now Lake City is an uber-neighborhood consisting of the residential neighborhoods of Meadowbrook, Matthews Beach and Cedar Park east of Lake City Way and Victory Heights and Olympic Hills west of Lake City Way. The broader neighborhood boundaries extend from NE 95th or NE 98th in the south up to NE 145th and from 15th Ave NE in the west to Lake Washington on the east. What most people understand as Lake City is the commercial strip along Lake City Way centered at NE 125th.
The Albert Davis Park with play area is right next to the Lake City Branch of the Seattle Library. Right at the intersection of Lake City Way and NE 125th is the Lake City Memorial Triangle, the Lake City Mini Park with the Lake City Playground just to the west. Other park areas include Cedar Park, Little Brook Park, and University Lake Shore Place.
The Lake City Farmers Market is held next to the Library on NE 125th & 28th Ave NE on Thursdays from 3 – 7 pm, from the 1st Thursday in June to 1st Thursday in October.
Local elementary schools include Olympic Hills and John Rogers with Sacajawea serving most of the Victory Heights neighborhood from over in Maple Leaf. The Jane Addams K-8 program is in Meadowbrook. Eckstein Middle School serves the area from the Ravenna neighborhood, and Nathan Hale High School serves the entire area from Meadowbrook.
The Burke Gilman Trail follows the Lake Washington shoreline for walkers and bikers. The 306 &312 express routes serve downtown commuters along Lake City Way (20-25 minutes) while the 64 takes the more scenic route along 35th (35 min). The 41 and 75 connect to Northgate. Access to the UW is provided by the 72 & 372 along Lake City Way (15-20 min) and 65 along 35th (20-25 min).
For Real Estate searches make sure to include Lake City, Victory Heights, Meadowbrook, Cedar Park and Matthews Beach when attempting to locate homes in Lake City.